The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-14
PROHIBITION In KANSAS.
ANTS FLOODING THE COUNTRY
WITH FALSE REPORTS.

The Squabble at Atchison not the
Result of Treasury Depletion Caused
by the Closing of the Saloons-A
Short History of the Movement and
Its Effects
CHICAGO, July 1S,-On July . a special
dispatch was sent from st. Joseph, Mo-, to a
Chicago paper, in whichit was stated; "The
closing of the saloons in Atchison, Kan,
has cut off the most profitable source Of rev
enue, amounting TO thousands of dollars
year, and as a result the city has not reve-
nue. to keep going" that the police force,
with the exception of the Marshal and one
policeman, had been suspended; that the ser
vices of the firemen were to be dispensed
with, and that the gas and electric lights
were to be shut Off. This dispatch having
had wide publication, many letters of in
quiry have been received by Gov Martin, of
Kansas, and by the Mayor of Atchison.
THE STATEMENT REFUTED.
Under the date of July II Gov. Martin
addressed a communication to Hon. Will
liam Henry Smith, of the Associated Press,
in which he says:
l am thoroughly familiar with the condition
of the city of Atchison and personally know
that the statements embodied in the st, Joseph
dispatch are false and misleading. The gas,
elecrtic light and water supply of the city have
never been turned off; its police department has
been and is continuously on duty. The police
force has been largely reduced, but has, IN the
absence of saloons, been ample TO preserve the
peace and protect the property of citizens.
local dispute concerning methods of taxation
and involving the adoption of n tax which has
been collected in the city of st. Joseph for
many years past is the only foundation for the
malicious and untruthful dispatch from that
place.
MAIIGNING THE STATE.
This st. Joseph dispatch is only fair speci.
men of hundreds of false and malicious state
ments have seen published in the newspapers
of the country, during the past three or four
years, concerning Kansas and Kansas towns.
The whisky interest predicted that the abolition
of saloons in Kansas would injuriouSly affect
the material prosperity of the State, and false
hoods intended to confirm that view, are con
Stantly invented and circulated in every section
of the country, and especially in States whore
movements are being made to Danish saloons.
am receiving letters daily from different States,
making inquiry concerning the effects and
results of our temperance laws on the financial,
commercial and other material interests of our
State and these letters all indicate that the work
of maliEning Kansas is going on in every section
of the country.
THE REAL FACTS.
Permit me, therefore, TO give you the real
facts. The prohibition amendment to our con
stitution was adopted in 1880, and tle first laws
to enforce it went into effect in May, 1881. The
war to Danish saloons was for some years only
partially successful The amendment had been
adopted by very meagre majority, and public
sentiment in all our larger cities was overwhelm-
ingly against 1t. As late as January, 1889, sa-
looms we're open in fully thirty of the larger
cities of Kansas, including Topeka, the capital
of the State. But steadily and surely public senti
ment against them spread and intensified. The
small majority that had voted for the amend
ment was REINFORCED, first, by law respecting
citizens who always willing to subordinate
their personal opinions to the majesty of the
law; and second, by an equally large number
who, observing the practical results following
the abolition of saloons in different cities and
towns, became convinced that Kansas would be
more prosperous, happy, and in all respects
better community Of people if it had not an
open saloon within its borders. So the senti-
ment of Kansas against the liquor traffic has
grown and strengthened until to-day very
much doubt whether, Of its 10000 male voters,
more than 5000 would, if they could, invite
back and reinstate saloons.